The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) coalition have scored a landslide win in the municipal elections of Chandigarh by winning 21 out of the total 26 seats.

These
polls have come just ahead of the crucial state assembly polls in
Punjab. While BJP & Akali Dal have won 21 of the 26 seats, the
Congress managed to win just four seats and the remaining one seat
was secured by an independent candidate. In the present council, of
26 seats, BJP has 15 councilors, Congress has 9, one is of BSP one is
independent.

In
Focus

The election was
contested by total of 122 candidates of which 67 were Independent
candidates. With an overall polling percentage of 59.54 per cent, the
total number of voters were 5,07,627 including 2,37,374 female
voters.

Reacting to the
victory BJP chief Amit Shah said, "Every election win after
November 8 shows that people approve of demonetisation decision."

While the Congress
had made demonetisation a major plank issue in the polls, BJP is
using it post-polls as a symbol of acceptance of the PM's decision.

BJP is the ruling
party in the state and so is facing an anti-incumbency factor in the
assembly elections where Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party is also a
strong contender.

This win has come
after BJP also made significant gains in civic elections held in
Maharashtra and Gujarat.